Advice on cleaning editing marks on silver gelatin photos

[T206Jim]

Thanks for the advice guys, the Q-Tips and distilled water worked like a charm. See for yourself.

[Bpm0014]

^^^^ Awesome!! Great job and great picture!

[Leon]

Came out very nice. Congrats.

Originally Posted by T206Jim

Thanks for the advice guys, the Q-Tips and distilled water worked like a charm. See for yourself.

[Trublubrucru]

My first try was a success. Patience and a lot of Q-tips is key. This is my first photo in uniform of my cousin Johnny Golemgeske, Captain of the Wisconsin Badgers 1936. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1937-40. The de-cropping made him look stockier too.

[71buc]

I have done this to photos as well. One nagging concern I have had is the long term effects of water on the photo emulsion and paper. A 100 year old photo can become dry and brittle. I'm sure the paper such beneath the 100 year old emulsion would absorb water like a sponge. As the photo dries out again is it possible that the emulsion could separate from the photo and flake off in the future? In the short term you benefit from improved appearance I'm curious about potential damage in the long term.

[Exhibitman]

I've never seen any damage.

[horzverti]

I think Mike has a valid concern whether there will be damage in the long term. It is definitely a good question to ask. He used a 100 year old photo as an example in this post. Considering the age of his example photo, "long term" could be defined as 25+ more years in the future. Although I have been removing editor's ink (using water) for several years, I don't have a 25 year old sample to judge whether damage occured as a result of using water.
I will update this post in 15 years when I have a 25 year old post-removal using water example.

[thecatspajamas]

I would be very cautious with any photo that had cracking, crazing, or otherwise allowed water to get to the paper substrate. I emphasize again, go slow, be careful, and if the gelatin surface appears to be getting gummy or sticky or otherwise absorbing the water, stop and let it dry completely.

This is NOT the same as soaking cards from an album, and there may well be an age or "brittleness" of the gelatin surface beyond which one would not want to attempt this on an amateur level. I do not think I have attempted it on any 100+ year old photos, and do not think I would personally be comfortable doing so on a photo that had surface damage (loss or cracking of the emulsion surface).